Express the percent as a decimal. $38.5\%$
$38.5$ percent = $38.5$ per cent = $38.5$ per hundred $38.5\% = \dfrac{38.5}{100}$ $\hphantom{38.5\%} = 0.385$ Another way to convert a percent to a decimal is to divide by $100$ (or move the decimal two places to the left) and remove the percent sign.